[ExI] trump

[Dan TheBookMan]

I’m not sure he’s an isolationist. I doubt he has much in the way of a coherent view of or long range plan for international relations other than talking tough. Recall how he even got rid of having a party platform committee. (Well, the RNC did under him. I reckon the fear was any such committee might put in planks he would either not understand or would attack.)

Looking at his time in office shows him talking tough to many allies on things to score points at home. He didn’t talk tough to Saudi Arabia on their brutal assassination of Khashoggi. Nor did he talk tough to the various brutal leaders around the globe. Instead, he openly praised many of them. He did talk tough to North Korea but backed down when its leader talked tough back, and we saw the usual dance of negotiations for payments. Recall his pleading with Mexico to just say they’d pay for the border wall. So I don’t see much of Trump being feared on the global stage — save by any ally that might depend on the US. 

I’m not for the US being the global cop or hegemon. I’m just pointing out how Trump’s haphazard approach to foreign policy doesn’t support the notion that foreign leaders who have a desire to, say, attack a weaker neighbor or oppress their population have little to fear from Trump.

Also, his understanding of how international relations works is near zero. And he shows no urge to alter that. With regard to NATO funding, he simply doesn’t understand how it works or even understand that he doesn’t understand, and he doesn’t care anyhow. (Can you imagine Trump, say, reading a book on stuff like this?)

Regards,

Dan

> On Mar 6, 2024, at 11:09 AM, Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> 
> One strength I once attributed to Trump was that he was (and still is)
> perceived as "just crazy enough"... and that would make other world
> leaders think twice before doing something like, oh, I don't know,
> invading Ukraine or Taiwan. However, his isolationist stance is such
> that such leaders might feel even safer doing such nonsense now... As
> bad as Biden is, he's at least supported Ukraine, which I view as a
> "good thing" due to the fact that if Russia successfully took over
> Ukraine, someone in Nato might be next, and then all hell might break
> loose. My vote is irrelevant now that I'm living in a RED as RED
> state... but I can't imagine voting for either of them at this point.
> 
> -Kelly